Add a little “pop” to a party with surprise balloons

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Offbeat Mama posted a really good idea for a party addition that’s fun and secret. I love both fun and secrets — I want to use this at a party soon. Read about it.

About the Author: Cat Rocketship

I was the Managing Editor of Offbeat Home for a year and a half. I have a rich Internet life and also a pretty good real life. Hobbies include D&D, Twitter, and working on making our household more self-reliant. I also draw things.

Comments on Add a little “pop” to a party with surprise balloons

  1. Comments are closed on the other post!! Putting it here because this is something that I personally struggle with and feel that it needs to be said.

    As a young child I went to a party where these sorts of games were played. I was an all round ‘normal’ child, no sensory issues or any other disorder that would have pre-warned anyone that these sort of games should not be played around me, nothing other than that I was young, about 2 or 3. The kids started popping balloons, and sure enough, I freaked out. But I was a toddler and unable to leave the room. Adults laughed and tried to get me to play, thrusting balloons at me and making me stay in the room. To this day I cannot be in the same room as a balloon without panicking. I can feel them in a room, and if I see one I look for them as other people look for spiders. I have been known to bolt into staff rooms in retail stores (once at a jeweler, and was lucky enough that one of the staff members had a good friend with a similar issue, other wise I could have been arrested) to get away from the damn things. People look at me as if I’m crazy, its one of the first things I have to mention when starting a new job, and I have had to leave venues by side doors because the front door has since been decorated with balloons.

    Globophobia – most people have never heard of it, think its absurd and that my children will be deprived because I will never have balloons in my home. But I have a phobia of balloons.

    The point? If you chose to play these games, give the kids an alternative, an out. DON’T make them play, and let them go to a quiet room if they wish. And sure as hell don’t ridicule them.

    • Hi Kathleen! I’m the Managing Editor at Offbeat Mama. 🙂

      First, I wanted to say thanks for your comment. We do take globophobia and sensory issues very seriously on the sites. However, I do want to point out that both the original author and Ariel have addressed this in the post.

      The original author specifically states:
      “Some children are very sensitive to loud noises. These are definitely not games to play with these kids.”

      and Ariel added this to the end of the post:
      “Updated to add: we have received a flood of feedback from readers expressing concern about balloon popping, including parents of children with sensory issues, adults who experienced balloon-popping trauma as children, etc. As with all posts on Offbeat Mama, it goes without saying that each reader should use their own discretion when deciding whether an idea presented on the site feels like a good fit for them and the kids they know.”

      We naturally leave it up to parents and people who would want to play a game like this to inquire about the participants — we feel like this is an awesome idea for people who would be into it, but there’s no way for us to know who and wouldn’t be.

      Again: thanks for the comment. It’s definitely always very important to everyone at the Empire to try to consider everyone in the posts that we produce, but it’s also kind of impossible. One of the coolest things about working on the Empire is that we do really learn new things every single day — for instance, I didn’t even know globophobia was what a fear of balloons is called.

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